Polenta Squares with Mushrooms and Soft Blue Cheese with Madame de Latour Red Blend

Got the blues this Valentine’s season? The best revenge is a touch of creamy bleu. Warm, baked polenta, topped with earthy mushrooms, soft, tangy blue cheese, all paired with the luscious black fruit and mocha flavors of our Madame de Latour. Moving on never tasted so good.

Beaulieu Vineyard Madame de Latour Red Blend

Dark as the night sky, Madame de Latour wine beckons with irresistible aromas of marine salt air, misty slate, and coastal chaparral. The palate is equally seductive with dense, velvety tannins and sweet, dark fruit flavors of black cherry and plum trimmed in black licorice, gracefully riding waves of acidity. This powerful wine can be enjoyed now but has exceptional aging potential.

Polenta Squares with Mushrooms and Soft Blue Cheese: A Surprising Pairing

Layering the sweetness of corn with earthy mushrooms and funky blue cheese may not seem intuitive, but the reason this dish succeeds so well is a story of balance. Unlike fresh corn on the cob, the ground corn meal used to make polenta has a mild, lightly sweet flavor. The mixed mushrooms run a gamut of subtle flavors, ranging from nutty to briny and herbal to fruity. Choosing a soft, spreadable, more subtle blue cheese, like Cambozola, rather than a bold crumbly blue, like Roquefort or Gorgonzola, brings the signature “funk” of blue cheese into alignment with the other ingredients in this recipe, lifting them up harmoniously rather than overpowering them.

Ingredients

1½ cups coarsely ground polenta

Olive oil

8 oz mixed mushrooms, thinly sliced (cremini, oyster, chanterelle, maitake)

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish

6 oz soft blue cheese wedge, cut into 1-inch slices

Method

In a large pot over medium-high, bring 4½ cups water to a boil; season with salt. Gradually whisk in polenta. Reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook, stirring as needed, about 15 minutes. Brush a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or quarter sheet pan with oil or line pan bottom with parchment paper. Pour polenta into pan, spreading evenly with a damp spatula. Refrigerate while preparing mushrooms.

Heat oven to 400°F degrees.

Over medium-high, heat a skillet. Add a drizzle of olive oil; sauté mushrooms and shallot with thyme for about 5–7 minutes, until softened and lightly browned. Remove from heat and place in a bowl.

Turn out polenta onto a board and cut into squares, about 1½–2 inches. Transfer to a parchment-lined sheet pan, lightly brush with olive oil, and bake about 8–12 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from oven to cool slightly.

Top each polenta square with a small piece of blue cheese and a spoonful of mushrooms. Place on a serving plate. Garnish with thyme leaves. Serve immediately.

Q&A

Q: What Beaulieu Vineyard wine pairs best with Polenta Squares with Mushrooms and Soft Blue Cheese?

A: Beaulieu Vineyard Madame de Latour Red Blend. Just when you think the lush, bold black fruit of this wine couldn’t soar any higher, the subtly complementary flavors in this yummy bite take the combination to a whole new level.

Q: What does Beaulieu Vineyard Madame de Latour Red Blend taste like?

A: Beaulieu Vineyard Madame de Latour Red Blend is dense with velvety tannins supporting sweet, black cherry, dark plum, black olive, black licorice, slate, and chaparral herbs.

Q: What gives blue cheese its signature flavors and aromas?

A: Of all the cheeses, blue cheese is the most opinionated and controversial. Where does its characteristic “funk” come from? Just like winemakers and yeast, cheesemakers work with natural organisms, too. In the case of blue cheese, it’s a different fungus, Penicillium roqueforti, that gives blue cheese its blue-green color and its culinary pizzazz. During the cheese-making process, mold spores are introduced into the milk. As the cheese ages and the spores grow into blue veins, the mold breaks down milk fat, leaving behind ketones that create the distinctively funky blue cheese flavors and aromas.